Final Words to My Greatest Friend
by DarkLordMephiles
Summary: Serita is a Chikorita who just saved the world with the help of her partner, Flare the Chimchar. But when she returned, he wasn't with her. (Not sure if genre'd correctly, tell me if I'm wrong.)


_**A/N: This short one has nothing to do with anything, but it was an idea sparked by the ending of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness. I'd been a Chimchar - not named Flare, but I chose to mix the names up since mine sucked - and my partner had been Chikorita - also, not with the same name as she has here. This is the same day that she returns to Treasure Town, but this time Flare doesn't come back. It's also the first time I've tried writing something along these lines, so any criticism or advice is welcomed!**_

He was gone... Flare, who'd taken me from a nobody to almost a legend in the Guild, who had taught me just how brave and strong I could be, was gone. My partner in our exploration team, my first and greatest friend... maybe if the world wasn't so cruel, even something more. We'd saved the world together - he always put his own safety last, trying to defend everyone else... even me. And he was just... gone.

As I looked over the ocean, seeing the Krabby blowing bubbles into the sunset, I started to cry. Everyone knew about what Flare did for us... they'd all remember him, I made sure of that. But nobody would remember him like I would. Maybe out of some vain hope, I glanced over at the sand near Beach Cave, where I'd first met him; as if to rub it in, the spot still had a faintly Chimchar-shaped indent in the wet sand.

_'Of course he's not there... you saw him fade away...' _It was almost worse than watching him leave, right now... the sun setting on the last day I spent with him by my side. I thought back to the last thing he did, before we fixed Temporal Tower...

_A weakened Primal Dialga was standing between us and saving the world. This would be it - we only needed one more hit, I could tell! I was scared out of my mind, but Flare just stared him down. He blew a stream of fire to finally bring the Legendary down, but it missed by less than the width of my leaf. I was too frightened to even move, when Dialga attacked. With just a roar, he sent a blast of swirling blue energy right at me; I could literally feel time breaking around it, I don't know how. I closed my eyes, waiting for the attack to hit - I knew I wouldn't survive something that powerful..._

_But the hit never came. I cracked open an eye, then screamed in fright - Flare had jumped in front of me! "What were you thinking!?" I'd cried; he should have been dead right there, but somehow he was just forced to his knees. In a weird burst of anger I sent a razor-sharp cloud of leaves at Dialga, at the same time looking desperately for an Oran Berry - I knew we had to have one! But Flare shakily stood up, and managed to even smile._

_"H-heh... I guess I w-wasn't really thinking!" _

At the memory, I had to laugh no matter how bitter it was. We did finally win, of course... but he never got to see the town. More tears slid down my face, thinking about how he just... faded away on the path away from the Tower. How he'd told me to live for myself now, that was all he wanted. I couldn't stand it anymore, standing so close to where our adventures had started... with blurry eyes, I started making my way back to our home. It would always be **our **home, Sharpedo Bluff... anything else would be like forgetting him.

Making my way through Treasure Town, I heard the Pokémon I passed trying to comfort me, but nothing they could do would help. If anything, I just needed to be alone for a while - to the others, he'd just been their friend. They wouldn't understand, not really. Finally I came to the short stairway into the hollow cliff we'd made our home, and I was ready to just lay down and... well, cry. But laid out on my nest-like bed, there was a piece of paper. Picking it up, I almost broke down all over again when I saw what was on it.

**_Serita, my closest friend..._**

**_ If you're reading this... I'm sorry. Sorry I never told you what was going to happen if we won, and so, so sorry that I had to leave you. But there was no choice... Grovyle warned me this would happen, when he took Dusknoir to the future to save us. I can only hope that you don't hate me for never telling you._**

Hate him? How could he even think I would hate him for anything... no, I knew exactly how; he never knew just what I thought. Tears fell onto the paper, soaking through immediately as I kept reading.

**_I realize I never talked much. You might have seen me as the leader, but really it was you that carried the team. Somehow you always knew the right time to move away, and I relied on your fighting more than you might think. But more than that, you could be cheery in the face of almost anything; even in the time-stopped future, it didn't take much for you to smile and press on. I envied that about you, really._**

**_If there's one thing I regret... it's not thanking you. You were the best friend a Pokémon could want... the best friend I could ever want. Actually, no - you might remember asking me what I was thinking when I took that hit for you back at the tower. I lied - I was thinking there was no way Dialga was taking you away from me._**

I had to stop and reread that part. _'Oh, don't tell me... did he...' _Shaking my head, I had to set the paper down and lay down next to it - I realized I was shaking too much to hold it steady.

**_Serita... no matter what happens, I want you to live on, enjoy your life. I'll have probably already said that, if you were there when I... left, but just in case I don't, I'm saying it now. That said... I was always too focused on the mission, or too nervous if we weren't out exploring, to say it but... I think I always saw you as more than my friend. I don't know how it could have turned out, but I guess it doesn't matter now. You were the best thing that ever happened to me though, that I do know._**

**_ I think I loved you... Flare._**

**_ P.S: Flip it over._**

When I reached the end, I was outright sobbing. The paper was nearly soaked through, and I could barely see the final line. But I made it out, and slowly flipped the page over to find something stuck to the back with what looked like melted Gummi... a shining silvery ribbon of silk, the one he'd worn as a scarf since I first saw him. With a sudden moment of strange... calmness, I carefully pulled the ribbon away from the page and tied it around my neck.

Wearing the last thing left from my greatest friend, and maybe my first love, I slowly folded the letter up and slid it into a 'shelf' in the stone wall. Then I walked over to the 'mouth' of Sharpedo Bluff, and looked out over the dusky ocean. My tears fell into the water below, but now I knew what I would do with my life... I'd continue what Flare had helped me start. I would keep Team Legend going, and make sure to do what he'd wanted - find some joy in life. I just... didn't know _how._


End file.
